Texas Department of Transportation v. Able

In Texas Department of Transportation v. Able, 35 S.W.3d 608, 609-10, 43 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1055 (Tex.2000), the court held that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) had waived sovereign immunity by entering into a joint enterprise with another governmental unit, the Houston Metropolitan Transfer Authority (Metro). Texas Department of Transportation v. Able, supra. In Able, the Texas Supreme Court relied upon evidence that the state highway had been a joint effort between Metro and TxDOT using federal, state, and local funds. The project involved substantial sums of money and contemplated a sharing of resources in order to make better use of the money. The evidence demonstrated a substantial economic gain from the pooling of resources through monetary and personnel savings.